Zhang Shide (; d. 1357) was a younger brother and general of

Zhang Shicheng Zhang Shicheng (; 1321－1367), born Zhang Jiusi (), was one of the leaders of the Red Turban Rebellion in the late Yuan dynasty of China. Early life Zhang Shicheng came from a family of salt shippers, and he himself started out in this trade i ...

during the late

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

. His conquests significantly increased his brother’s power and his death led to complacency in Zhang Shicheng’s court.

Life

Zhang Shide and his brothers (one of whom was Zhang Shicheng) were boatmen for the Yuan government salt monopoly. Disgruntled at excessive duties and cheated by customers who bought the brothers’ smuggled salt, the Zhang brothers (along with 14 other salt workers) organized a self-defense group around Zhang Shicheng. In 1353, the chaos they caused by burning the houses of influential people pressured them into rebellion. Shicheng’s rebellion would spread quickly until it was nearly destroyed by Yuan general Toqto’a in

Gaoyou Gaoyou (), is a county-level city under the administration of Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, China, located in the Yangtze River Delta on the north side of the Yangtze River. History Recent archaeological finds at the Longqiuzhuang site in Gaoyou has ...

. In late 1355, Zhang Shicheng sent Zhang Shide to cross the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

in order to plan an expedition. Shide captured

Changshu Changshu (; Suzhounese: /d͡ʐan¹³ ʐoʔ²³/) is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, and is part of the Yangtze River Delta. It borders the prefecture-level city of Nantong to the northeast across the Yangt ...

in February 1356 and captured

Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...

in March. In April, Shicheng made Suzhou his capital; he would remain there until his death. Zhang Shicheng continued to capture territory both east of

Changzhou Changzhou is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu, China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling, and Jinling. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Changzhou borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the west, Zhen ...

and into northern

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

. However, he was forced to withdraw from

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

after entering the city in summer 1356. These conquests strengthened Zhang Shicheng’s regime but also brought him into conflict with

Zhu Yuanzhang The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328– 24 June 1398), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Ming, personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, courtesy name Guorui, was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1368 to 1398. In ...

, the future founder of the

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

Death and aftermath

Zhang Shide was captured by Zhu Yuanzhang while fighting over Fushan harbor in summer 1357. Zhu tried to use him as a bargaining chip to obtain favorable terms with Zhang Shicheng, but Shide sent his brother a letter telling him not to yield and, if necessary, to instead surrender to the Yuan Dynasty. Zhang Shide then starved himself to death while in captivity. Zhang Shide’s death ended the expansionist phase of Shicheng’s regime. From then on, Shicheng took a passive stance to governance, evidenced by his surrender to the Yuan Dynasty in late 1357. In exchange for immunity from Yuan attacks, Zhang Shicheng shipped up to 150,000 pickups of rice to the Yuan capital, Dadu, every year. Without Shide’s aggressive generalship, Shicheng’s armies became less disciplined and his government became less legalistic. The government went on to be dominated by Zhang Shicheng’s youngest brother, the generalissimo Zhang Shixin, and his son-in-law, Pan Yuanshao, both of whom had decadent tendencies. These developments contributed to the ultimate defeat of Zhang Shicheng by Zhu Yuanzhang. Alongside Zhang Shixing, the generals Li Bosheng, Lü Zhen, and Xu Yi would continue to serve under Zhang Shicheng despite their king’s newfound passivity.

References

Citations

Books

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shide, Zhang Red Turban rebels Transition from Yuan to Ming Year of birth missing 1357 deaths